January Term 2015 Extensive Travel Courses

Environmental Issues in Costa Rica -- AH
Professor Tom Davis
Location of travel: Costa Rica
Course fee: $3,500
This course includes a 14 day study travel field course in Costa Rica. Students will visit three different forest ecosystems: tropical wet forest, tropical dry forest, and high elevation tropical cloud forest. Students will use the scientific method to generate questions, pose hypotheses, design experiments and collect data at these 3 outdoor forest sites. Results from these hands-on projects will be discussed within the group and with local experts. Basic ecological concepts will be compared between sites. Each student will learn basic flora and fauna at each of the 3 sites. Environmental issues including hydroelectric power, man-made reservoirs, rainforest logging, agricultural land use, effects of coffee, pineapple and banana production, volcano ecology, invasive species control, ecotourism, and maintenance of rainforest biodiversity will be discussed and observed first hand. This course satisfies Loras AH general education requirements. All Advanced Gen Ed requirements must be met before taking this course (LIB 100, 105, 110 and Math Modeling).
Course fee includes all meals, lodging, tours and transportation in Costa Rica. Out of pocket expenses include airport food, travel snacks, souvenirs and personal shopping. 3 credits.

Business Seminar Professor Hugh Graham Location of travel: San Francisco, California Course fee: $1,750
This study travel course will focus on development and application of business knowledge, exploration of world class organizations and business leaders, and service to community. Class activities will include in-depth study of current events, a comprehensive and competitive simulation and in-depth field experience of world class organizations/leaders. Prerequisites for this course: ACC225, ACC 226, CIT 110, BUS 230, BUS 240, BUS 250, BUS 317, BUS 350. Registration restricted to Senior CIT Management and Business majors. Instructor’s permission required. Additional out-of-pocket expenses include all meals, some entrance fees, and personal shopping. 3 credits.

Global Filmmaking: France Through the Lens
Professor Craig Schaefer
Location of travel: France
Course fee: $3,750
This is an international film production course and we’re going to be producing video on location just like the pro’s. Students in this course should be prepared to travel extensively and tell outstanding visual stories. France Through the Lens is an experiential creative production course with a focus on group work. Nearly all of your efforts will contribute to the larger group goal of producing a high quality production. Prior to our flight, class sessions on the Loras campus will be working sessions on pre-production creative. Class sessions in France will be used to shoot on location. You will also be making script adjustments at that time. Upon return, class periods will focus on post-production. Students must have completed COM-158: Introduction to TV Production. Additional out-of-pocket expenses include meals. 3 credits.

Martyrs, Mendicants and Masterpieces -- AC
Professor Amanda Osheim
Location of travel: Italy
Course fee: $4,000
During our time in Rome and Assisi, we will examine the relationship of the Roman Catholic church to culture in three historical periods. First, how was the church shaped by its struggle for survival under the Roman Empire in the age of the martyrs, and how did the church begin to gain legitimacy and influence? Second, once the church was well established within Italian society, what prompted saints such as Dominic, Francis, and Clare to pursue holiness through voluntary poverty and preaching in the midst of cities? Third, how did Renaissance art and architecture both express the church’s faith and manifest the power of particular church members? Additional out-of-pocket expenses include lunches, some dinners, and personal shopping. 3 credits.

Greek Odyssey: An Archaeological Tour of Greece -- AC
Professor Cindy Smith
Location of travel: Greece
Course fee: $4,000
Greek Odyssey: An Archaeological Tour of Greece is an overseas study course. Students will investigate how the physical remains of an ancient culture, scattered over different time periods, reveal changes in the culture’s social structure, political institutions, economic forces, technological advancements, cultural achievements, etc. Although the focus of the study trip will be to examine physical sites and artifacts, students will read several primary literary sources that offer insights from the ancient Greeks themselves into their own culture. Additional out-of-pocket expenses include some meals, personal spending, and shopping. 3 credits.

Chinese Cities in the Past and Present Professor Lee Zhu Location of travel: China Course fee: $3,000
Scholarships: 12 scholarships are available, each worth $1,200
Actual cost for the student receiving a scholarship: $1,800
This study travel course explores China’s urban history and current urban transformation. We’ll travel to Beijing, the capital of China; Shanghai, the largest city in China; and Suzhou, an ancient city near Shanghai. Sites we’ll visit include the Great Wall, the Forbidden City (the Imperial Palace) and the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, several famous Chinese gardens and a large Taoist temple in Suzhou, and the world’s highest observation deck on a skyscraper in a newly developed area in Shanghai. We’ll stay in China for 14 nights and 13 full days. The course will focus on five themes: (1) the development of cities and their political and economic roles in imperial China, (2) physical and spatial features of cities in imperial China and the social and cultural contexts that created these features, (3) traditional Chinese gardens and the underlying philosophical and aesthetic views, (4) accelerated urbanization accompanying China’s rapid economic growth in recent decades, and (5) the current social and cultural transformation of Chinese cities. The course fee includes some meals, the number of which will be determined by airfare. Out of pocket expenses: course texts, meals (apart from those covered by the course fee), and personal shopping. 3 credits.

The scholarships are made possible by generous donations from two alumni. In order to be considered for a scholarship, please check the box for the scholarship within the application form.

El Camino de Santiago Professor Dana Livingston Location of travel: Spain Course fee: $3,000
Caminos de Santiago. Ours are misty stone trails through the same green lands that legend says St. James the Elder travelled during and after life. We will join the “Camino Portugués” as it crosses the Minho River into Spain. Into this same time and place we will weave the theme of modern human migrations across the Galician landscape, seeing and evaluating everything from evidence of the Celtiberian “castros” of the early Roman era to the emigrant/immigrant history of now. Throughout the trip we will investigate the efforts of Cáritas Diocesana. You do not need to know Spanish to take this course; we will be happy to challenge you at whatever level you do have.

On the Camino, we will be walking about 15 miles/day, probably in rather damp weather. Proper clothing is a necessity. Lodging will be primitive. Students walk a segment of the Camino de Santiago and acquire a detailed understanding of the pilgrimage from differing perspectives. This knowledge is seen through the lens of human migrations through a modern landscape, specifically modern immigrants, emigrants and the groups that engage them. How do the modern American pilgrim and the modern African immigrant move through this landscape; how are they received by the inhabitants of the place? The search for truth -- the pilgrimage -- involves sacrifice and service to others; in modern migrations there is sacrifice as well as service, we explore both in a setting that will expand the students’ understanding of the human experience. The learning involved will be demonstrated in an electronic portfolio. Additional out-of-pocket expenses include all meals and some transportation costs. 3 credits.